Louis van Amstel
| died= | hometown= Amsterdam, Netherlands | partner= 1: Trista Sutter (6th) 2: Lisa Rinna (4th) 3: Monique Coleman (4th) 6: Priscilla Presley (8th) 9: Kelly Osbourne (3rd) 10: Niecy Nash (5th) 11: Margaret Cho (10th) 12: Kendra Wilkinson (6th) All-Stars: Sabrina Bryan (8th) 21: Paula Deen (9th) }} Louis van Amstel was a professional dancer in Dancing with the Stars. Early Life Louis van Amstel was born in Amsterdam; his grandparents were competitive ballroom dancers. He began dancing at ten and entered competitions at fifteen. He stopped attending school at sixteen to pursue dancing full-time. Career Early Career Van Amstel competed professionally with Julie Fryer, and they were coached by Ruud Vermeij. In 1990, van Amstel and Fryer became Dutch Latin Champions and 10 Dance Champions. They also made the final in Blackpool in the 'under 21' category. This very same year, they received a bronze medal at the German Open, at the World Latin and at the European 10 Dance. In the Worlds 10 Dance Championship, van Amstel and Fryer got fourth place. In 1991, van Amstel and Fryer won the national championships for the second time, and got the fourth place in all major championships. A year later, van Amstel decided that he wanted to retire from competing for a while, and came to the point where he finished his partnership with Fryer for the first time. Three years later, in 1994, the partnership was re-established, and van Amstel and Fryer went on to win three world Latin Dance championship gold medals in 1994, 1995 and 1996. In 1997, van Amstel retired from competitive ballroom dancing, moved to New York City, and became an American citizen in July 1999. He returned to competitive dancing with partner Karina Smirnoff; they won the United States national championship in 2000. Dancing with the Stars Van Amstel was cast for Season 1 of Dancing with the Stars in early 2005. He was partnered with Trista Sutter, but they were the first to be eliminated from the competition. In the show's second season, he was partnered with hostess Lisa Rinna, with whom he reached fourth place. In Season 3, van Amstel returned and was partnered with High School Musical star Monique Coleman. During the eighth week of the competition, they received two 10s for their Cha-Cha-Cha marking van Amstel's only 10s of Dancing with the Stars for an individual dance for many seasons to come. They made it to the semi-finals, but were eliminated, resulting in a fourth place finish. He did not participate in the fourth season due to all the females being taller than him, but he nonetheless maintained a role as a performer and choreographer throughout the season and Season 5. He returned in Season 6 and was partnered with actress, businesswoman, and wife of Elvis Presley, Priscilla Presley. The couple made it to the fifth week, but were eliminated, resulting in an eighth place finish. He returned in Season 9 and was partnered with reality TV star and singer Kelly Osbourne. The couple made it to the finale where they finished in third place, marking van Amstel's first and only time to make it to the finals to date. In Season 10 of Dancing with the Stars, Van Amstel was partnered with Reno 911! star Niecy Nash. The couple made it to the eighth week, but were eliminated, resulting in a fifth place finish. For Season 11, van Amstel was partnered with actress and comedian Margaret Cho. The couple made it to the third week, but were eliminated, resulting in a tenth place finish. Van Amstel appeared in Cho's comedy music album Cho Dependent as her therapist. In July 2011, he appeared alongside Cho as himself in the fourth episode of the third season of Drop Dead Diva. For the show's twelfth season, van Amstel was partnered with Playboy model and reality star Kendra Wilkinson. During the fifth week in the competition, they danced the 1000th competitive dance. The couple made it to the seventh week, but were eliminated, resulting in a sixth place finish. Wilkinson later published her book, Being Kendra, in which she said she and van Amstel clashed constantly and that he called her dyslexic and learning disabled. Van Amstel denied the comments, calling her book "twisted". Nevertheless, van Amstel made two appearances on Wilkinson's reality shows Kendra and Kendra on Top, though Wilkinson described their encounters as "awkward". Van Amstel returned for Season 15 of Dancing with the Stars, the All Stars season, and was partnered with former contestant, Sabrina Bryan. In the sixth week of the competition, the pair scored the first perfect 30 of the season. This was also van Amstel's first perfect score after nine seasons in Dancing with the Stars. The couple made it to the sixth week, but were eliminated, despite being at the top of the leaderboard, resulting in an eighth place finish. This was also the same week that Bryan was shockingly eliminated in her original season. In Week 8, van Amstel was chosen by Kelly Monaco and her partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy to be their partner in their trio dance. Van Amstel was not asked back for Season 16 of Dancing with the Stars. On 2 September 2015, he was announced as a pro for Season 21 after a five-season hiatus. He was paired with celebrity chef, Paula Deen. They were eliminated in Week 6 of the competition and finished in 9th place. Other Work During his time off from Dancing with the Stars, van Amstel set up a not-for profit dance company called "Visionworx Dance Theater," which combines all four major dance forms. He also choreographed and appeared on numerous TV shows such as The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Hannah Montana, and All My Children. After season six of Dancing with the Stars, van Amstel was asked to create and choreograph a show called Ballroom with a Twist, which featured a rotating cast of dancers. The show also featured former American Idol contestants including David Hernandez and Carly Smithson. Ballroom with a Twist toured in theaters around the country and was very successful. Van Amstel is no longer associated with the show. He choreographed seven dances on Season 5 of So You Think You Can Dance. Three of the seven dances made it to the finale and were mentioned as the judges' favorite picks at the Kodak theater in Hollywood. He continued choreographing in Seasons 6, 7, and 8. Van Amstel also runs his dance fitness program, LaBlast. LaBlast DVDs were released in early 2012. During the summer of 2012, van Amstel started his fitness clothing line, called LVA. In fall 2014, van Amstel was as a judge on the Dutch show Celebrity Pole Dancing, a show where Dutch celebrities are taught how to pole dance and perform. Personal Life Van Amstel is openly gay. However, he does not call himself gay because he does not want to be put in a box. On 8 January 2017, Van Amstel married his long-time boyfriend Joshua Lancaster in Sundance, Utah. In attendance were his former DWTS partners Kelly Osbourne and Sabrina Bryan. Fellow pros Chelsie Hightower and Ashly DelGrosso also attended. The couple adopted a son in June 2019. Dancing with the Stars 1 Louis was partnered with Trista Sutter. They placed 6th. Scores Trista-Louis-Promo1.jpg Trista-Sutter-Promo.jpg Dancing with the Stars 2 Louis was partnered with Lisa Rinna. They placed 4th. Scores Lisa-Louis-Promo2.jpg Lisa-Rinna-Promo.jpg Dancing with the Stars 3 Louis was partnered with Monique Coleman. They placed 4th. Scores Monique-Louis-Promo3.jpg Monique and Louis S3 1.jpg Monique and Louis S3 2.jpg Monique and Louis S3 3.jpg Monique and Louis S3 4.jpg Monique and Louis S3 5.jpg Dancing with the Stars 6 Louis was partnered with Priscilla Presley. They placed 8th. Scores Priscilla-Louis-Promo6.jpg Louis Van Amstel S6.jpg Louis Van Amstel.jpg Dancing with the Stars 9 Louis was partnered with Kelly Osbourne. Placed 3rd. Scores 1 Due to Len Goodman's absence in week 2, the 7 was awarded by stand-in guest judge Baz Luhrmann. Kelly-Louis-Promo9.jpg Kelly and Louis S9 1.jpg Louis Van Amstel S9.jpg Dancing with the Stars 10 Louis was partnered with Niecy Nash. They placed 5th. Scores Niecy-Louis-Promo10.jpg Louis Van Amstel S10.jpg Dancing with the Stars 11 Louis was partnered with Margaret Cho. They placed 10th. Scores Margaret-Louis-Promo11.jpg Margret and Louis S11 1.jpg Louis Van Amstel S11.jpg Dancing with the Stars 12 Louis was partnered with Kendra Wilkinson. They placed 6th. Scores 1 The additional scores of 7 and 8 were awarded by guest judge Donnie Burns. Kendra-Louis-Promo12.jpg Louis Van Amstel S12.jpg Dancing with the Stars 15 Louis was partnered with Sabrina Bryan. They placed 8th. Scores 1 The additional score of 8.5 was awarded by guest judge Paula Abdul. Sabrina-Louis-Promo15.jpg Sabrina and Louis S15 2.jpg Louis-Van-Amstel-Promo15.jpg Dancing with the Stars 21 Louis was partnered with Paula Deen. They placed 9th. Scores 1 Score given by guest judge Alfonso Ribeiro. 2 This week only, for "Partner Switch-Up" week, Deen performed with Mark Ballas instead of Louis van Amstel. Louis performed with Tamar Braxton. 3 Score given by guest judge Maksim Chmerkovskiy. 4 Score given by guest judge Olivia Newton-John. Paula-Louis-Promo21.jpg Louis_Van_Amstel_21.jpg Trivia * He was born and raised in Amsterdam, Netherlands. * He became a U.S. citizen in 2007. * He was the only original pro left from Season 1 on Season 21. * He suffers from ADD. * He became a U.S. national champion in 2000 with Karina Smirnoff. * Before Dancing with the Stars he used to coach Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Valentin Chmerkovskiy, Tony Dovolani, Karina Smirnoff, Anna Trebunskaya, Cheryl Burke, Edyta Śliwińska, Alec Mazo, Jonathan Roberts, Elena Grinenko, Ashly DelGrosso, Jenna Johnson and Brittany Cherry. * He always wanted to become an Air Force pilot. * He got Derek Hough and Julianne Hough involved in Dancing with the Stars. Other Pics Louis-Married.jpg LouisVanAmstelWedding.jpg Category:Males Category:Professionals